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In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name … (Matthew 6:9)

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41)

pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1)

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:16)

The ABF leadership team has a burden to see us have a greater emphasis on prayer. Our dear Sister Carolyn Major volunteered to be our Prayer Coordinator.

Our plan is to set aside at least 10 minutes during our ABF hour for prayer. Carolyn will direct this time and collect prayer requests. She will ask one from our class to remember these requests before the Lord. If you would like to contact Carolyn by email her address is cmajor01 [AT] yahoo [DOT] com

Years ago I was taught this helpful formula for prayer: A.C.T.S.: ACTS stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. More on that here from BGEA:

Adoration means worship. We encourage you to begin your time of prayer by adoring and praising God. Praise Him for who He is and for all that He has done for you. God delights in your praises!

Confession, the next component, means agreeing with God about the things that you have done wrong. It’s a time to express sorrow about what you have said, thought, or done that is not pleasing to Him. Ask God to forgive you for these things, and then believe that He does so freely. When you confess your sins, you receive God’s cleansing and this helps to remove any barrier in your communication with Him (read 1 John 1:9).

Thanksgiving basically means being thankful to God. Thank Him for His love, protection, and provision just to name a few things.

Supplication is the final component, and this means praying for your needs and for the needs of others, such as friends, family, your pastor, missionaries, government leaders, and persecuted Christians around the world. You may want to pray for such things as God’s guidance, wisdom, and opportunities to serve.

Lately, I’ve been keeping a prayer journal, writing down my prayers. And I’m following the ACTS model of prayer. I start with Adoration. Because I don’t want to say the same things every day, I’ve been choosing a Psalm and I’m writing down qualities of God I see in that Psalm for which I can express adoration.

A few days ago, I read Psalm 4. As I read, “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness,” I wrote down, “You hear me when I call.” And I spent a moment quietly praising God for listening. Then I wrote down, “You are righteous.” And I spent a moment thinking about how right and perfect He is and praising Him for that. Then I read, “You have relieved me in my distress.” And I wrote down, “You are my relief when I am distressed.” Then I spent a moment or two recalling times when my Father has been my relief and my soul lifted praises to Him for that. And on I went through the entire Psalm.

Image above is the famous GRACE by Enstrom. The official website for this image is here. There is also a Wiki article on the image here. Grace is a 1918 photograph by Eric Enstrom. It depicts an elderly man, Charles Wilden, with hands folded, saying a prayer over a table with a simple meal. It was created in Bovey, Minnesota. In 2002, an act of the Minnesota State Legislature established it as the state photograph